In anticipation of Shiva's monumental first birthday celebrations at The Island this coming Saturday, Liam D, the man behind one of London's hottest and well-respected clubnight, talks to us about its inception and the story so far.....

What made you try your hand at throwing parties? Did you become a promoter to further your DJ career or did the DJing come AFTER you threw parties?

I was a DJ first who got sick of promoters giving me shit set times and the whole "you can play but bring fifty people" crap!

When you launched Shiva at Canvas a year ago, many people questioned you launching a new brand at such a big club, yet you managed three nights with well over a thousand people each time! What do you think has been the key to Shiva's success?

The Panda! The first line-up was too big to ignore - Grant Nelson, Soul Avengerz and Nick Bridges from Bodyrox DID get the heads turning but our branding/marketing with flyers also got a lot of people talking. I must've covered the London Marathon twice over with all the flyering drops I did all over London and parts of Essex. Pity I never lost weight though! Once we got people there, I think we had the right balance of music - the current sound of dirty electro / tech house but we also never forgot the music that got so many of us into clubbing in the first place, from vocal uplifting house to club classics. There was a really relaxed feeling about Canvas. People dressed up but also weren't afraid to party hard. Unfortunately you don't get that atmosphere in many clubs, only a few and we were lucky to be one of them.

One of Shiva's most infamous features is the Shiva Panda. Whose idea was this and have you been surprised by its popularity?

It was my brother who did it for a laugh! So many people questioned the reason for the Panda's presence on the flyer, so we thought we'd go one step further and get a human Panda suit! The women loved him and many wanted to hug, dance and pose for pictures that, after so much attention, it was inevitable to make him the mascot! It's funny how there hasn't been any shortage of male volunteers to wear the suit since they saw the girls' reaction!

At the initial Shiva events you played in the dirty/electro room but you now reside in the uplifting house room. Was this a conscious decision to change your musical direction as a DJ?

I play across the board depending on who comes to hear me play. I get pressure from my older mates (they know who they are) to play the older funky house club classics but in a mainstream club night you can't play out-of-date tunes all night unless it's a specified Club Classics/Old Skool night. So, depending on venues and crowds, I change my style a bit. Anything that has an old element but a new sound, I tend to play a lot as it can relate to both sets of crowds!

You are known as one of the hardest working promoters in London, but also, you have a reputation for being a bit of a practical joker and rumour has it that one of your resident DJs was recently on the receiving end of a Liam D prank. What's the story?

I have a little toy where I can text friends from another friend's phone via the Net. It's very naughty and if you're not careful, you can land yourself in all sorts of trouble! So, anyway, I sent a text from "Robert Alldritt" (head honcho of Get Diverted) to all his friends confessing he was coming out the closet and wanted support from his friends! It reached its peak when members of the gay community showed their full support on Rob's wall on Facebook. Those who know Rob, will know it couldn't be further from the truth! He got loads of strange phone calls and could not understand why!

What do you think of London's club scene at the moment? Do you feel that the scene is saturated with too many promotions and not enough clubbers?

There is so much choice, it’s got harder for all promoters. I, for one, was gutted about the closure of Canvas, The Cross et all, but it has helped a little as I DID think there were not enough clubbers to fill all the clubs. The younger crowd and even Uni students are more into Indie or R&B music as opposed to 10 years ago, when House was running the show! The ones who liked House are thinking more of mortgages, careers, marriages and babies - basically they are growing up! Very sensible, as you can't party forever, but what a pain in the arse for us promoters as we have to replace them!

Your other big passion in life is your beloved Chelsea. Would you rather Shiva won "Mixmag's Clubnight Of The Year" award or Chelsea won the Champions League?

That's a tricky one! As much as I'd love Chelsea to win it, I'd have to say Mixmag - because at the end of the day, Chelsea Football Club and its players don't care about my personal success, so why I should sacrifice mine for theirs?! But Chelsea winning the Holy Grail would make me a very happy man!

Where does the future of Shiva lie? Would you like Shiva to become a global or international brand or are you content with it being a well-respected London clubnight?

Who knows what the future holds. I do intend to take the brand abroad in the near future, but I have to be realistic as it all depends on finding the time to push from all angles - holding down a day job takes a lot out of me, so I will have to nip that in the bud first! But five years from now I definitely intend to be chilling indoors whilst my Shiva Team do all the hard work on a Saturday night! Promoters/DJs have a limited shelf life, so we will just have wait to see how far this goes! In years to come, I don't intend to be the oldest person in the club with everybody thinking: "What's this old git doing here?" If things do go to plan, Shiva will become a global brand but I think I will just be a silent partner - you'll never see any more, as I will be tucked up in bed whilst the younger folk party!

NOW ON TO THE QUICKFIRE ROUND:

Mad night out clubbing or quiet meal with the missus?

Funnily enough: quiet meal with the missus!

Uplifting House or Dirty Electro?

Uplifiting House but producers have to stop opting for the easy electro option because it only takes five minutes to make!

Premiership or Champions League?

This year, Champions League. We have won the league twice in the last couple of years - unlike Arsenal and Liverpool. Let Man United have it and we will take the Champions League!

CD or Vinyl?

Vinyl up until three years ago but now CDs! You can experiment more, take more out and they don't strain you back!

Canvas or The Island?

Both. For different reasons!

Thanks, Liam. A big congrats are in order for Shiva's first birthday, we think.

JOIN SHIVA AS THEY CELEBRATE TURNING ONE. A NIGHT BRIMMING WITH THE FINEST IN UPLIFTING HOUSE AND DIRTY ELECTRO - GUARANTEED TO KEEP YOU SMILING AND GETTING THE GOOD TIMES GOING. IT'S WHAT CLUBLAND'S BEEN CRYING OUT FOR.....